Thread feed control for shuttles



July 19, 1966 s. BALUT THREAD FEED CONTROL FOR SHUTTLES Filed March 22. 1963 INVENTOR .Sfephen Ba/uf A TTOR/VEYS United States Patent 3,261,377 THREAD FEED CONTROL FOR SHUTTLES Stephen Balut, Wilkes Barre, Pa., assignor of one-third to Ralph Balut, Dallas, Pa., and one-third to Raymond R. Balut, Shavertown, Pa.

Filed Mar. 22, 1963, Ser. No. 267,115 1 Claim. (Cl. 139213) The present invention relates to weavers shuttles, and more particularly to the thread feed control means therefor.

As stated in my patent application Serial No. 146,132, filed October 19, 1961, now Patent No. 3,194,277, thread feed control devices for weavers shuttles usually employ fur fibers or other but similar material disposed in the opening of the shuttle in such manner as to lightly engage the thread on the bobbin or quill in brushing fashion to thereby prevent backlash or tangling and consequent knotting of the thread as it is rapidly fed from the quill or bobbin. While generally effective for its intended purpose, there are several disadvantages to the employment of fur or fur-like material. The rapid rotary movement of the thread as it is pulled from the quill soon either m-ats the fur or wears away the fiber ends thereof and thus forms a channel which, of course, reduces the effectiveness of the thread control. When this channeling occurs, it becomes necessary either to comb the fur back to proper upstanding position, or in the event it becomes too far worn to replace it by similar fur. Another disadvantage in the use of fur in the aforementioned capacity is that due to the high humidity which usually prevails in weaving plants, the fur fibers adhere to one another and become lumpy, resulting in either excessive friction which causes breakage of the thread, or insufficient friction to prevent thread backlash. The replacement of the fur for whatever cause is a tedious job and involves considerable expense.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide improved and simplified means for effectual action as a brake or retarding means for the movement of the thread as it leaves the quill, the same exerting even and constant pressure throughout the length of the quill, the said pressure being insuflicient however to cause breakage of the thread. In this manner backlash is positively prevented, and the braking or retarding means is smooth and even and of such nature as to be long lasting.

In addition to the foregoing objectives, the device of the present invention, due to its particular construction and arrangements of parts, permits more thread to be wound on the quill than has heretofore been possible with the prior art devices of which I am aware.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all as will be described more fully hereinafter, illustrated in the attached drawings and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a conventional form of weavers shuttle which has been provided with a thread feed control constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, on an enlarged scale, and illustrating the novel thread feed control means of FIGURE 1 but in the form it assumes before being installed in the shuttle andpositioned for contact with the thread on the quill or bobbin;

FIGURE 3 is a view, on an enlarged scale and partly in section, which has been taken on the line 33 of FIG- URE l; and

Patented July 19, 1966 quill or bobbin 8 has wound thereon the thread indicated at 11 which is drawn through the guide 12 at one end of the shuttle as the latter rapidly moves back and forth in the usual manner.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE 2, the novel thread feed control member of the present invention comprises a flat, flexible elongate strip 13 of cardboard or other suitable material to one face of which there is attached a flexible resilient strip-like pad 14 which is of greater thickness and substantially rectangular in cross-section. This flexible resilient strip-like pad 14, whose function will later appear, may acceptably be formed of foam rubber and carry on its outer surface a relatively thin layer of fabric such as silk or nylon.

The flexible strip-like pad 14 is preferably resilient in all directions as well as compressible so as to tend to spring back automatically to its normal cross-sectional shape; and the aforementioned relatively thin fabric layer, which extends throughout its length and is firmly adhered thereto, flexes and bends with it.

A relatively wide fabric strip 16 is adhered to the side of the strip 13 which is opposite that carrying the flexible resilient strip-like pad 14 and projects therefrom for a considerable distance as shown. An edgewar d portion of the opposite side of this fabric strip 16 is secured to one of the interior walls 17 of the bobbin recess 10. The relatively wide fabric strip 16 may be formed of any suitable flexible material which is capable of providing a normally form-retaining outer edge.

To the outer edge of the aforementioned relatively wide flexible fabric strip 16 there is secured a series of successive and outwardly extending loops 20 which are disposed in slightly overlapping relationship as shown in FIGURE 2. The outer ends of these loops 20 are rounded with the side members thereof disposed in parallelism, the inner ends of said side members being attached to the flexible fabric strip 16 in any suitable manner, as by stitching 22.

According to a preferred embodiment these loops 20, which extend outwardly from the flexible fabric strip 16, are formed of nylon filaments and they are adapted to make contact with the thread 11 on the quill or bobbin 8 and effectively retard its movement to and through the guide 12 from whence it goes to the weaving machine (not shown).

The brake member thus formed is, as aforementioned, glued or in any other desired manner firmly aflixed along one of its longitudinal edges (i.e. the flexible fabric strip 16) to the side 17 of the bobbin opening 10 and the flexi'ble fabric strip 16 is bent into contact with the adjacent edge of the flexible resilient strip-like pad 14. In this position the flexible fabric 16 (as viewed in- FIGURES 3 and 4) passes under the quill 8, with its adjacent edge short of the thread 11 thereon. However, the series of successive and outwardly extending (overlapping) loops 20 contact the thread 11 on the quill 8 and produce the superior results referred to hereinbefore.

While I have shown and described certain sp'ecific embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that we do not wish to be limited exactly thereto, since various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

In combination with a shuttle having a longitudinally extending bobbin chamber and a bobbin carrying thread or yarn mounted therein; a generally flat and relatively thin rectangular strip of flexible material disposed lengthwise in the bobbin chamber; a lengthwise section of said strip being removably attached to one of the side walls of the bobbin chamber and in oft-set relationship with respect to the longitudinal center-line of the latter; the remainder of the width of said strip being unattached and capable of flexing movement toward and away from the bobbin; a coextensive flexible and resilient pad secured to that portion of said strip which overlies the lengthwise section which is removably attached to the side wall of the bobbin chamber; the unattached portion of said strip being in contact with said coextensive flexible and resilient pad and projecting therebeyond into the bobbin chamber; a series of juxtaposed and overlapping fiexible loops carried by the immediately aforementioned projecting edge of said strip; the side members of said loops being in substantial parallelism with each other and substantially at right-angles with respect to the axis of the bobbin; said flexible loops extending into contact with the thread or yarn on said bobbin.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,223,361 4/1917 Blydenburgh 139-213 2,043,395 6/1936 Scherdel 138213 2,343,659 3/1944 Gerson 139-213 3,187,781 6/1965 Roberts et a1. 139213 3,194,277 7/1965 Balut 139-213 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,054,030 3/ 1959 Germany.

471,275 9/ 1937 Great Britain.

575,305 2/ 1946 Great Britain.

764,972 1/ 1957 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Textile Industries, vol. 126, No. 11, pp. 131 and 132, November 1962, W. R. C. Smith Publishing Co., Atlanta, Ga.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER,

Examiners. I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

